Women\u27s Substance Abuse Treatment With Supplemental Couple\u27s Therapy: Changes in Women\u27s Levels of Intimacy and Autonomy in Relation to Treatment Outcomes by Treatment Modality

The current study is a secondary analysis of a National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) study in which 122 women received treatment for their substance abuse problems. Three models of substance abuse treatment were administered. One included standard substance abuse treatment alone and two models included supplemental couple\u27s therapy in addition to standard treatment. The current study examined the significance of the relationship between changes in the women\u27s levels of intimacy and autonomy, during and after treatment, and their treatment outcomes according to the treatment modality they received. It was hypothesized that the relationship would be significant in that levels of intimacy and autonomy would be important variables with regard to treatment outcomes in couple\u27s therapy. No statistical significance was reported although some significant trends were found with regard to the fluctuation of intimacy and autonomy levels during and after treatment. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are reviewed

A Tiger with No Teeth: The Case for Fee Shifting in State Public Records Law

A federal lawsuit filed against the city of Columbia, Missouri, alleging police brutality seemed destined for headlines in 2010. At its core was an incident in which a routine traffic stop for a broken taillight erupted into a “fracas” in which police allegedly both tased and beat a man and threw a woman to the ground. A Columbia Daily Tribune reporter following the case filed a public records request for any documents concerning the incident. A police spokesperson contacted him days later to let him know the records were ready for pickup

What is the best way to evaluate secondary infertility?

The work-up for secondary infertility--the inability to conceive after 1 year of regular unprotected intercourse for a couple who have previously had a child--should include a history and physical exam for both patients, plus evaluation of ovulation, semen analysis, and imaging of the uterus and fallopian tubes (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, based on cohort studies)

Identification of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Spindle Pole Body Remodeling Factors

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae centrosome or spindle pole body (SPB) is a dynamic structure that is remodeled in a cell cycle dependent manner. The SPB increases in size late in the cell cycle and during most cell cycle arrests and exchanges components during G1/S. We identified proteins involved in the remodeling process using a strain in which SPB remodeling is conditionally induced. This strain was engineered to express a modified SPB component, Spc110, which can be cleaved upon the induction of a protease. Using a synthetic genetic array analysis, we screened for genes required only when Spc110 cleavage is induced. Candidate SPB remodeling factors fell into several functional categories: mitotic regulators, microtubule motors, protein modification enzymes, and nuclear pore proteins. The involvement of candidate genes in SPB assembly was assessed in three ways: by identifying the presence of a synthetic growth defect when combined with an Spc110 assembly defective mutant, quantifying growth of SPBs during metaphase arrest, and comparing distribution of SPB size during asynchronous growth. These secondary screens identified four genes required for SPB remodeling: NUP60, POM152, and NCS2 are required for SPB growth during a mitotic cell cycle arrest, and UBC4 is required to maintain SPB size during the cell cycle. These findings implicate the nuclear pore, urmylation, and ubiquitination in SPB remodeling and represent novel functions for these genes

Noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation alters neural response and physiological autonomic tone to noxious thermal challenge.

The mechanisms by which noninvasive vagal nerve stimulation (nVNS) affect central and peripheral neural circuits that subserve pain and autonomic physiology are not clear, and thus remain an area of intense investigation. Effects of nVNS vs sham stimulation on subject responses to five noxious thermal stimuli (applied to left lower extremity), were measured in 30 healthy subjects (n = 15 sham and n = 15 nVNS), with fMRI and physiological galvanic skin response (GSR). With repeated noxious thermal stimuli a group × time analysis showed a significantly (p < .001) decreased response with nVNS in bilateral primary and secondary somatosensory cortices (SI and SII), left dorsoposterior insular cortex, bilateral paracentral lobule, bilateral medial dorsal thalamus, right anterior cingulate cortex, and right orbitofrontal cortex. A group × time × GSR analysis showed a significantly decreased response in the nVNS group (p < .0005) bilaterally in SI, lower and mid medullary brainstem, and inferior occipital cortex. Finally, nVNS treatment showed decreased activity in pronociceptive brainstem nuclei (e.g. the reticular nucleus and rostral ventromedial medulla) and key autonomic integration nuclei (e.g. the rostroventrolateral medulla, nucleus ambiguous, and dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve). In aggregate, noninvasive vagal nerve stimulation reduced the physiological response to noxious thermal stimuli and impacted neural circuits important for pain processing and autonomic output

Functional Outcome in Limb-Salvage Surgery for Soft Tissue Tumours of the Foot and Ankle

Purpose. This paper describes the functional and oncologic outcome of 30 cases (in 29 patients) treated with limb-salvage surgery for localized soft tissue sarcoma (STS) or fibromatosis of the foot and ankle